The Week That Got Lost

More details of the Central telligence Agency (CIA) MKULTRA program came to light last week as a former Medical School professor outlined how he unwittingly received $30,000 in CIA funds for his "Studies in Hypnosis" project in the early '60s.

Dr. Martin T. Orne'48, now a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, said the findings of his research would have disappointed the CIA officials "if they had wanted to use hypnosis for mind control."

But CIA officials were apparently confident in the early '60s that the research might lead to "later practical application of the results in Agency-type situations," documents the CIA released to the University in September indicate.

The documents show the agency was interested in developing hypnosis techniques that would produce "high motivation toward Agency goals" in its agents.

"The hypnosis project, unlike other MK-ULTRA projects that have involved tests of hallucinogenic drugs on unwitting subjects, apparently did not deceive or harm the research subjects, predominantly students from Boston-area colleges. Orne said he never conducted a classified research project.

Orne published research papers in the early '60s that sought to show hypnosis is a "very poor method for mind-control."

Daniel Steiner '54. general counsel to the University, began a study of Orne's work in October, after receiving the CIA documents indicating Harvard's involvement in the MK-ULTRA project. His statement on the project, released in late January, did not name Orne, who had asked to remain unidentified for fear of sensationalist publicity.

Steiner had stated when he received the documents from the CIA last October that he would release the materials to the public. Although he said two weeks ago that Harvard had "no stake in the projectfl' Steiner justified his refusal to reveal Orne's name on the ground that the researcher's right to privacy "outweighs the University's interest in full disclosure and the public's right to know."